FACTS

1. A substance is hazardous when it contains carcinogenic ingredients, harmful to reproduction, or is toxic enough to exceed SDS limits set by the criteria for specific compounds. Different agencies may also need a safety data sheet for mixes that do not match categorization standards but contain hazardous substances in particular concentrations.
2. According to the SDS standard, workers have a right to know what hazards are linked with the substances they use in the workplace. This guideline must be followed by chemical makers and employers who have chemicals in their workplace.
3. SDS information helps employees choose safe products and prepares them to respond appropriately to exposure and emergency circumstances.
4. SDSs are not intended for the general public. The hazards of working with the material in an occupational setting are reflected in an SDS. An SDS for paint, for example, is not as significant to someone who uses a can of paint once a year as it is to someone who uses it 40 hours a week.
5. When confronted with a toxic substance on the job, many workers rely on the “Safety Data Sheet” (SDS) to inform them of the substance’s hazards. However, many SDSs have inaccurate or missing information, leaving workers uninformed and at risk.

STATS

• Implementation of an SDS management program for an employer can be expensive, as was addressed by U.S. OSHA. A large research institution may have more than 30,000 current SDSs to manage. This frequently requires an FTE and a significant amount of data storage capacity. This data management problem is but one of the complaints frequently voiced by company personnel, particularly EHS professionals.
• Every year, an estimated 50,000 workers — 10 times the number that die from an occupational injury — die from a disease caused by exposures in their workplace.  With an estimated 650,000 chemical products on the market – and hundreds of new ones being introduced annually – about 32 million workers confront potentially dangerous chemical exposure in the workplace.
• The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that exposures to chemicals used for large-scale cleaning account for approximately 860,000 occupational illnesses and 60,000 deaths every year. Pool maintenance-related injuries account for more than 5,000 emergency room visits annually, according to the CDC. These statistics highlight the potential dangers chemicals pose, and why it’s crucial to provide protection for their employees and patrons.